Mitsue (Endow) Salador ’45, a Japanese American internment camp survivor featured in the Spring 2019 issue of Linfield Magazine, died on April 22 from complications due to the coronavirus. She was 96.
Salador was studying to be a teacher in 1942. In the aftermath of the attack on Pearl Harbor, she was separated from her family and detained at the Portland Assembly Center. She was released after three months on the condition that she relocate 1,800 miles east. On the recommendation of Linfield professor William Smith, she was able to transfer to William Jewell College in Missouri to finish her studies.
Salador went on to earn master’s degrees in nursing and teaching. She settled in New York State, where she retired as a teacher in 1984. She often spoke about her internment, sharing her perspective at libraries and community events. World War II was devastating, she told Linfield Magazine in 2019: “I feel very thankful having been at Linfield, because that made it possible for me to continue my life.”
She is survived by her son Jerome Salador and daughter-in-law Lynn Salador; her daughter Deborah Smith and son-in-law Albert Smith; her sister, Connie Morioka; six grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. Her husband, Fred, preceded her in death.
